Vancouver Surpasses Toronto as Canada’s Strongest Startup Ecosystem: Report

Vancouver is now Canada’s top startup hub, according to the latest Startup Genome report, which ranks startup ecosystems around the world every couple of years.

Vancouver, which ranked 15th in the world, placed ahead of Toronto and Waterloo, who both cracked the top 20. Meanwhile, Montreal fell off the rankings.

No surprise that Silicon Valley placed first. New York, Boston, Tel Aviv, and China rounded out the top five.

The last index, in 2015, had Toronto ahead of Vancouver. Overall, Canada’s showing is strong, especially considering Startup Genome ranked hubs from more geographies, including key parts of Asia, for the first time.

“Canadian cities score particularly well on Market Reach, driven by the high share of foreign customers,” the report reads, especially Vancouver, which ranked 5th for this metric. “This is largely because of Canadian startups’ access to the US market,” the report added, noting the coastal city’s close proximity to the Valley.

However, one weakness for all Canadian cities, including Vancouver, was talent access.

But what really secures Vancouver’s place among the elite is its Team Experience. The city scored first in the world for this metric, just ahead of the Valley, which demonstrates the density and potency of Vancouver’s blossoming tech industry.

Startup Genome’s forecast for the future doesn’t show staples like Silicon Valley and New York losing ground any time soon, but prospects for Canadian cities remain bright, according to the report. Venture capital is on the rise in key markets, so if the talent issue can be solved, Vancouver and the rest stand a good chance of pushing the top 10 in coming years.

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